There's no place like home
by tessinciucy
Summary: Future fic. One of the guys returns to Four Corner after years away. Things have changed, but not so much... (mention of character death)


I was cleaning my folder from some... trash and this story came out.

I didn't even remember writing it but re-reading it, I decided to give it a try. So here it is.

Bear with me, it's an OW future fic.

Please forgive my English which is not my first language and this story is not edited.

* * *

There's no place like home

The man walked along the streets of Four Corners; they were so different from what he remembered them. It's been so long since he had been here and lot of things were changed... twenty five years... a lifetime.  
But there was something familiar in the air, the smells, the colors, the sounds... it was like coming home after a long trip. Yes even after all those years, this was still his home.  
Instinctively and, even after all this time, as habit, he moved towards the saloon.  
The whole town had become more modern but this place was still as he remembered it, still the same. The moment he stepped through the bat-wings door, it was like turning back in time. In his mind, Inez was behind the bar serving drinks, group pf farmers were sitting at the tables, other men were simply talking... he could hear the conversation, the laugh... But his attention went immediately to a table... their table.  
How many hours, days, they had spent there... talking, laughing, playing cards... simply enjoying each other company.  
He closed his eyes, holding on the tears that were forming into them... twenty five years. Why did he allow himself to stay away for so long?  
When finally he opened his eyes again, someone was staring right in front of him... time had passed but the tall figure was unmistakable; the black hair was gray now and so the mustache, the shoulders hunched under the weight of the age, but the blue eyes were still full of the same light, still full of life.  
"Buck?!" the man exclaimed unable to suppress his happiness "Is that you? Is that really you?"  
The old man didn't respond but simply hugged the man "You made it kid..." he said with a shaking voice, broken by the emotion "Welcome home JD!" he added softly.  
The two men stood there, in the middle of the saloon, uncaring of what was happening around them until, Buck decided to break the embrace.  
"Look at you kid..." he told JD proudly, his eyes veiled with unshed tears.  
"I'm not a kid anymore Buck..." the young man remarked shyly.  
"Nah, you're still just a kid..." the older man insisted "Come on now... let's have a seat"  
JD observed his friend moving slowly towards the table, their table. People, even the youngest men, looked at him respectfully, stepping aside at his passage.  
They sat down, taking their old seats; it was so natural, they didn't even think about it. They just did it. Two beers were placed in front of them.  
"Here you are Mr. Buck" the bartender said smiling.  
"Buck... I'm sorry I didn't make it in time" JD started, playing nervously with the glass of beer, a sad note in his voice "Your message didn't get me in time"  
"It doesn't matter kid" Wilmington stated, locking his deep blue eyes on the younger man's "You're here now..."  
"I'm... I can't tell you how sorry I am. You and Chris have been friends for so long" JD couldn't hide his sadness. He had always seen Chris Larabee as an invincible man, who could outlive all of them... the news of his sudden death, had been so unexpected.  
"Oh yes... we are... were" Buck sighed, inhaling deeply "But we lived longer than I have ever expected, especially in our line of duty" a proud smile curved his lips as he went on talking "I've never imagined to see how the world changed as it did in these years... I've never expected to look at myself in the mirror and see my hair becoming gray... I've never imagined to be so proud of the man you've become JD"  
"I... thank you Buck" JD didn't know what to say. Everything he knew, everything he did in his life, was because of these men... of the men who were his family, the men he loved more than his own life and now Buck was telling him that he was proud of him. His heart almost melted for the emotion. "Where... where is he now?" he asked with a tiny voice.  
"We buried him beside Sarah and Adam, I knew he would be happy to be with them..." the old man explained, his hand trembling, unable to hide the sadness and the void he was feeling in his heart.  
"You did the best for him... he knows it Buck" the young man's hand moved slowly towards his old friend's forearm, to reassure him, to let him feel his presence. "As you all did for Josiah... Vin told me about it. Too bad it was already too late to come back for me that time too..."  
"How's Vin? I know you two are in contact..." Buck asked; it was weird hearing the name of his friends after so many years, after so long time... God only knew how much he missed them.  
JD smiled softly "You know him Buck... he's a free spirit, but he promised me he would come. I'm sure he will arrive..."  
"I know... can't wait to see him too. Four Corners has never been the same without you..."  
The young man looked at his old friend, at the sorrow that veiled his expression... "Buck... why didn't you leave? I mean... why did you stay here? All of these years..."  
Wilmington closed his eyes, for a moment lost in his thoughts... in his memories. "Because... I didn't feel right to leave, not after... well... after..."  
"Because he knew, new women would come to town... that's why he never left" a deep voice intervened from behind JD's shoulders "Do you mind if I sat down with you?"  
The young man's face lightened up, once again happiness took possession of him "Nathan!" he screamed turning around and hugging the black man who almost lost his balance for JD's unexpected reaction.  
"Hey boy... nice to see you" Nathan told him. He was too very happy and overwhelmed by the emotions.  
"You're still here too..." the young man said, wiping away the tears that once again were running along his cheeks.  
"He couldn't leave too" Buck winked from his seat, a big grin brightened his tanned face.  
The black man took the chair and sat down; immediately another beer was placed in front of him. He silently thanked the bartender and gulped a sip of the fresh drink. "Yeah... I suppose I couldn't... especially after... well you know... Ezra..."  
For a moment silence fell on the table and the three men instinctively cast a glance at the seat that the gambler was used to occupy at the table.  
"Nathan didn't want to leave after what happened to Ezra..." Buck stated, his voice almost inaudible.  
"Why... why nobody told me about it? Why you didn't call me...I..." JD's words died in his throat, this was still an open wound.  
"It's weird... because..." Nathan wanted to say a lot of things but nothing came out of his mouth.  
"I found out about it only four months later... I had all the rights to know. Ezra was my friend too" the young man insisted, after almost twenty years, he couldn't understand.  
"I know kid... but it was so painful... I've never imagined that it could hurt so much. And not because he suffered as I've never seen any other person suffer. It was his attachment to this place, to this town... that hurt. Ezra has always been an enigma to most of the people, a selfish SOB for almost everyone, but he was the one that probably needed the most a place to belong, a family... trust me JD, I've never seen anyone fight for his life the way he did, even in the last moments, he was fighting..." tears were flowing copiously on Buck's face and he wasn't even trying to stop them. It was like he was releasing almost twenty years of pain bottled inside.  
"We... we promised him to take care of this place, to take care of his family" Nathan continued, his voice was deeper than usual and his eyes never left his glass of beer "..and so we stayed. It wasn't right to abandon him.."  
"I can understand that... but four months. You told me after four months..." JD almost yelled, after all this time he was still furious.  
"Because he didn't want you to give up on your dreams... on your opportunity for a better life. Ezra knew that if you had to come back, you wouldn't have left anymore..." Wilmington whispered looking intently at his young friend "He... wanted you to be happy..."  
"But I could have been happy here too..." the young man cover his face with his hands, feeling exhausted all of the sudden "...with you. this was my home too"  
"You had a dream JD, something you were looking for since you were a little boy... we all knew it. Ezra knew it too..." Nathan added calmly "He knew how important it was to have a dream... damn it! That stubborn Southerner was a much better person than he wanted the world to be aware of..."  
For a moment nobody wanted to add anything else... it was already too much, until finally JD took his pint of beer and lifted it in the air, waiting for the others to join him in the gesture "To the Seven of us... and to the stubbornest son of a bitch ever... Ezra Standish".

* * *

The day after the three of them decided to pay a visit to Ezra. The gambler was the only member of the seven lawmen that had been buried in the little cemetery of Four Corners, irony of the sort. He had been the most reluctant to join the team of regulators, the one everybody always accused to run away at first occasion... the one who was probably most attached to this place. His death had been the beginning of the end. Their worlds had started to go into pieces after that tragic event...  
The grave was simple, with only his name embedded in the stone Ezra P. Standish. Memories invaded the three men's minds as Ezra's Southern drawl echoed in their ears.  
The three of them were standing still, everyone lost in his thoughts wen someone approached them "I reckon, I ain't that late." The voice was unmistakable.  
"Vin!" the three exclaimed at unison.  
After they all exchanged a big brotherly embrace, Buck took out a bottle of the finest brandy he had been able to find at the saloon and a deck of cards "Gentlemen" he said trying to imitate Ezra's thick accent "May I interest you in a game of chance?"  
They all smiled, sitting on the ground while the mustached man, dealt the cards...  
They stayed there for a couple of hours, enjoying their company. Once in a while it was like they could feel the Southerner's presence beside them, hearing his tales and... his five dollars words. It was weird... they had been separated for so long but they all felt like they had never left... like time had stopped.  
When finally they decided it was time to go, JD said "I think, I can... stay here in Four Corners a little longer. I have some free time..."  
"I reckon' I missed this place," Vin added, talking away the dust from his clothes.  
Nathan and Buck exchanged a satisfied look, happy to have at least for a little while, their young friends around.  
Wilmington collected all the cards and laid them on Ezra's grave, with great care and before leaving, he bent over the gravestone, passing a hand on the embedded name "Thank you Ezra," he whispered, before joining his friends that were already leaving the cemetery, a big smile on his face.

* * *

The four men were at the entrance of the cemetery when, all of the sudden, a little breath of air started blowing, scattering all around the cards Buck had placed on Ezra's grave.  
Nobody noticed that, as nobody noticed that the only card visible of all the deck was the Ace of Spades, as nobody heard what it seemed a soft Southern Drawl "_Thank you too Mr. Wilmington..._".

The end


End file.
